The Fence Lyrics

In an old abandoned factory near a dying fire,
Three lovers lie, their tears have dried but they don't know what to do.
They hitchhiked to Miami and they hopped a couple trains.
But they never made it to the fence that day.
The new world never seemed so far away.

Their spirits dead, they shake their heads, scrub the teargas from their eyes.
And nurse the broken bones sustained while fighting for their lives.
The stun grenades, the barricades, the rubber bullet's sting,
The three take hands, they understand, one lover starts to sing that:

We knew that the world could never be
Anything more than what we could dream.
With the teargas all around we couldn't see
But we never fought blindly
We always knew that the new world was waiting
Just beyond the fence.

A couple miles away in the county jail
Sixteen new friends pass the time learning each other's tales.
Let's sing a song for solidarity, a song against their lies:
So through the bars sixteen voices rise:

We knew that the world could never be
Anything more than what we could dream.
With the teargas all around we couldn't see
But we never fought blindly
We always knew that the new world was waiting
Just beyond the fence.

Outside the helicopter searchlights sweep down empty streets.
While all over town the people frown and sigh in disbelief.
They know the way it happened and they know that it was wrong.
So one by one each voice joins in the song:

We knew that the world could never be
Anything more than what we could dream.
With the teargas all around we couldn't see
But we never fought blindly
We always knew that the new world was waiting
Just beyond the fence.

Back in cell-block C-5, they begin to hear a sound.
Through a tiny grated window they see people on the ground. Just beyond the wall, the silence falls
five-hundred voices drown, singing:
You can lock us up but you can never keep us down.

Because we know that the world can never be
Anything more than what we can dream
With the teargas all around we cannot see
But we will never fight blindly
We will always know that the new world is waiting
Just beyond the fence.